While Silicon Valley startups are always shooting to be The Billion Dollar Entrepreneur and to be the next Facebook, Holle says European entrepreneurs are The Hidden Champions. They “show a remarkable amount of persistence that is critical for success.”

The characteristics that Holle is talking about are some of the Small Town Rules: Think Long Term. Be Frugal. These apply not just to European tech startups, but also to a broad range of businesses today that would rather be The Hidden Champion than one of the many failures.

It’s also a great illustration of the location-independent nature of today’s business. Anywhere, anywhen technology means these startups don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to create something meaningful.